Hi, welcome my friend! I have a reflection for us to share today which I believe is rather timely but first let’s grab our cuppa & treats to get comfy for our time together.
Following on from my Tea’s of the World adventure over Christmas. I’m enjoying a cup of Sticky date tea today accompanied by a gf strawberry shortbread cookie, I can’t tell you how delicious these are!
Now we are comfy, sipping our hot cuppa’s & enjoying our treats let us begin…
Beginning Education
When I was a little girl, I went to several schools of faith (my father’s work required us to live in different regional areas a few years at a time) until High School, I clearly remember my first day at school with all its new experiences.
I remember my Kindergarten teacher, Miss Cornell who had a Beehive hairstyle which was the latest fashion at the time here in Australia. I thought she was the kindest person I had ever met in all of my 5 years on this planet, apart from my family of course! Lol!
We had an old classroom in an old school building that smelt of colored pencils, crayons, old timber desks & old books. Aromas that still to this day transport me back to that classroom with its colorful fun & exciting things for Kindy kids.
I was delighted that we prayed each morning, as we stood behind our desks, before our lessons began.
Learning that Prayer is essentially a chat with God, sharing what’s on our mind in our concerns, our needs or the needs of others & to give thanks.
The power of the Almighty
The prayer we prayed each morning was known as the Lord’s prayer & was the prayer Jesus taught His disciples whilst He walked the Earth,
Our Father who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name,
Thy Kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,
Give us this day our daily bread,
And forgive us our sins, as we forgive others,
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen.
(Matthew 6: 9-13 & Luke 11: 2-4)
As you can see it was an old English version…
Teritary education
As an adult I also had a first day experience at another educational school of faith, this time it was at Missionary & Bible College.
I remember strange words being bantered around by the lecturers in those first few weeks, words like hermeneutics, homiletics & exegesis.
Exegesis means, the critical explanation of a text, especially of scripture.
I thought it would be exciting to begin an exegesis at the beginning of this year, as my word for 2021 is Prayer.
Shall we explore this most significant prayer that Jesus taught? For there are treasures here still to be found today!
First, let’s examine the beginning
The beginning of this prayer is pivotal to all prayer, for all mankind in all seasons since it was given.
I know that sounds a very grand statement to make but as we dig deeper you will discover for yourself the absolute precious treasure Jesus was gifting us in this simple but profound prayer.
Setting the scene
This prayer was given just after the Sermon on the Mount Refer II. Jesus had been teaching the multitudes the fullness of God’s truths that were quite startling to the Jewish world at that time.
There was the mind blowing Beattitudes, there were instructions to His followers to be the salt of the earth & shine God’s light to the world.
There was also new revelations on personal relationships, anger, marriage & divorce. Expanding their understanding of God’s grace in the fulfillment of the Judaistic law through the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Himself.
Jesus then began His teaching on prayer especially to His disciples by highlighting the need to first of all come before God the Father privately each day.
In other words spend quality time with our heavenly Father without distractions from the world.
But first who we address our prayer to is very important
When we examine the beginning of this prayer in modern words, its reads Our Father who is in heaven, we note that Jesus directs us to God the Father & no one else.
This can also be seen in all the prayers Jesus prayed that are recorded in the Scriptures while He walked with His disciples. Every one of them addresses Father God directly. Why?
Only God the Father has the power to answer prayer
Let’s qualify this & also look at the following scripture that Jesus imparted a little later at the time He was preparing the disciples for His death.
He told them that our heavenly Father would recognize prayer requests specifically in His name from that time forth, Jesus Christ’s name,
“Truly, truly, I say to you, if you shall ask the Father for anything, He will give it to you in My name. Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask & you will receive, that your joy made be made full. “
John 16: 23 & 24
&
“In that day you will ask in My name, & I do not say to you that I will request the Father on your behalf; for the Father Himself loves you because you have believed in Me & have believed that I came forth from the Father.”
John 16: 26 & 27
You see directing our prayers to our heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ signifies where we are as a believer.
It signifies that we have come into that personal relationship of salvation with the Father through His Son Jesus in His sacrifice on the cross, His resurrection & His return to the Father (the ascension).
You may be thinking the following,
Hold on Jennifer, doesn’t God use His Spirit & angels to answer prayer?
Yes He does, God answers prayer through His Holy Spirit & also utilizes His multitude of heavenly angels.
However, it’s God the Father who answers our requests in directing & empowering the answers to those prayers, for only He holds the power to make all things happen (Romans 8:28).
Second, glorifying the Father
When we study Jesus’ life on earth, we see a consistent glorifying of the Father. Everything He did & said was to glorify God the Father who sent Him.
And the second line of the Lord’s prayer is no exception, Jesus directs us to pray,
“Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Thy name…”
Hallowed, means to keep Holy. Keep the name of God Holy. In other words it reads, ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Holy is Your name’.
This gives glory to God the Father for He is a Holy God & His Name is Holy.
Did you know that the ancient Hebrews believed that God’s name Yaweh was so sacred that they didn’t utter it! And that it was actually the meaning & sound of life itself!
His name is found at the very beginning when life here on Earth was being created in Genesis 2:4! For it is actually written thus, YHWH, יְהֹוָה without vowels, sounding yh vh, which is essentially the sound of breathing & unpronounceable!
Try the following Exercise for yourself
Exhale through your mouth, yh is heard & inhale through your mouth, vh is heard! So God’s name is said in every breath we take! Refer II How awesome is that!
As this year unfolds my dear friend, we will continue excavating prayer along the way while sipping our cuppa’s & munching treats. So stay tuned!
Until next time,
Jennifer
Next in this Prayer series is From here to Kingdom come →
© 2021, Jennifer M. Ross, teawithjennifer.blog All Rights Reserved. Photo on Pexels.com
Jennifer, such a big word for the year! So much to unpack, I can’t wait to see how the Lord reveals Himself and His purposes for you in 2021 through this word. Love the emphasis on YHWH, I often sit quietly breathing thinking that very thing, my breath is sacred, from God and speaks His name. Thank you!!
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Thank you Donna! Yes, I’m excited to see what He will reveal to me this year through a journey in prayer, maybe more of its fullness…we shall see 😀
Isn’t God just so amazing! So glad you enjoyed our time together.
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Jennifer, what a timely post for me. Prayer is often the last resort, but should always be the first. Delving into the Lord’s Prayer is an excellent way to model our prayers. Thank you for your insights, my friend!
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You’re welcome Pam!
I can’t do this life without chatting to my heavenly Father, I start to get overwhelmed if I don’t have time with Him each morning or take things to Him during the day when the Holy Spirit brings something or someone to mind for prayer…
But then again we were never supposed to do it alone…were we! We were created to walk in the garden to chat with Him each evening! That hasn’t changed He still wants to enjoy time with us each day. 😀
How awesome is that!
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I love this, Jennifer. I am looking forward into deeper insights into the Lord’s Prayer. Love and blessings to you!
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Thank you Trudy! So glad you enjoyed our tea time together today 😀
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Jennifer, I went to a public school and we used to pray the Lord’s Prayer every morning too. We also pledged allegiance to the flag and sang either patriotic or religious songs. Prayer is such a good word to focus on in 2021. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on prayer this year.
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Wow Laurie I didn’t know that! Here public schools don’t do that.
We aren’t as patriotic here as you guys with allegiances. We have a national anthem which is only sung on rare occasions mainly Australia Day & official ceremonies.
We did sing ‘God save the Queen’ (being part of the Commonwealth) in weekly school assemblies back then but this has now fallen out of practice 😀
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Dear Jennifer,
What a beautiful study to begin the New Year with! Truly HE is the only one who has all power! I love that prayer practice of breath-prayers, of realizing that HIS name is written in every breath we take. What a faith building way to live. I look forward to more thoughts on prayer–it is so dear to my own heart too. Blessings and love to you!
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Thank you sweet friend! Yes, He has the power & in that power is such gentle love, grace & kindness for us…which is so awe inspiring & amazing. 😀
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Thanks for the exercise and for sharing more on the Lord’s prayer. I love the Lord’s prayer too. 😊
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Thank you Herry! 😀
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This sounds like a great focus for the year. I look forward to reading more of your reflections on prayer.
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It surprised me when the Lord highlighted this word & subject to me but I’m excited about the journey through it this year Lesley 😀
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Hi Jennifer! You have done so much work on this subject … I remember praying that prayer out loud every Sunday growing up. These days it hasn’t been used much in the churches I’ve been to. But when it does and we start to pray out loud, it all comes back to me, the simple richness of this beautiful prayer.
Amazing how what we learned in childhood has stayed lodged in a special place in our hearts.
Good to connect with you again!
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Yes, I agree Linda sadly this beautiful prayer has fallen out of ‘fashion’ but when it is heard or prayed collectively it is such a powerful thing! Lovely that we could enjoy a cuppa together my friend 😀
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I love that breathing in and breathing out makes the sounds for God. I’ve never heard that before! Have you ever read The Book of Hours by T. Davis Bunn?
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Isn’t it wonderful Anita that Yahweh’s name is breath & life itself!
No I haven’t read that book. Do you recommend it?
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Jennifer, I love the Lord’s Prayer and it has been mentioned quite a bit lately in various posts I’ve read. Not sure if you have read this post but I haven’t been able to get it out of my mind as it speaks to the power of this very simple prayer. Blessings!
https://seandietrich.com/the-prayer-group/
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Thank you Joanne, I’ll have a look 😀
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Such a sweet story Joanne, thank you for sharing that! 😀
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Wow, Jennifer. I never thought before about how we breathe in and out saying the name YHWH. That gives a whole new meaning to breathing for me. 🙂 When life is crazy, I can breathe a prayer, or at least fix my mind on the Lord.
You have a big word to focus on this year. I look forward to hearing more of what the Lord shows you. 🙂
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It’s wonderful isn’t it! I too was so astounded, then I realized that the first breath we breathe at birth & the last breath we breathe at the end is God’s name! He truly is the Alpha & Omega in all our lives! How awesome is that! 😀
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So beautifully written, Jennifer! What a blessing to read as I recognized I missed this when you first posted it! Blessings and thanks! Pam
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Thank you Pam! So lovely to have you drop by my friend! New year’s blessings to you! 😀
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Amen Jennifer. I love your one word 2021. Thank you for sharing such a blessed post.
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You’re welcome Paula! We have a similar theme in our sites, a hot beverage chatting about the Lord. Lovely having you join me in a cuppa today. 😀
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Nice to meet you Jennifer. It was my pleasure to join you for a cuppa today. 🌼
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